The recent interception by gardaí of a powerful bomb allegedly intended to cause death and destruction in Northern Ireland was a salutary reminder that the offshoots of the IRA have still not gone away.

It was truly disheartening that the latest alleged bomb plot came just days after the 50th anniversary of the murder of the British ambassador to Ireland, Christopher Ewart-Biggs, whose car was blown up by an IRA bomb just outside his residence on what was then a quiet country road in south county Dublin.

At a commemorative ceremony at the residence in Glencairn hosted by the current Ambassador, Kara Owen, Kate Ewart-Biggs recalled that day, when she was just eight years old. Her father had only been in the post for less than two weeks and was scheduled to go into the city to meet minister for foreign affairs Garret FitzGerald. She recalled hugging him as he left the residence and asking if he really had to go.

Kate then went to the garden to play with Eoghan O’Driscoll, whose father was driving the embassy car. As they played they heard a loud bang but after pausing for a moment they continued their game. The bomb, planted in a culvert a few hundred yards from the house, killed the ambassador and a young civil servant, Judith Cooke, while O’Driscoll and senior UK official Brian Cubbon were seriously injured.

‘We rented houses at first but then said:........

© The Irish Times